I worked on pinbasting much of the weekend. Here is one quilt that now has the walking foot grid quilting done and is ready for the freemotion. Scary. This quilt will go to our guild's Quilts in Force (quilts that are donated to the local police forces to distribute to children in traumatic situations, often domestic violence.) It is suggested we donate at least two a year to the cause. I have one with teddies almost done and this one will hopefully be finished in the next week.
I found this backing fabric with the flying cats and dogs on sale at Hancocks and just loved it. I went through my stash to find some coordinating novelties. Hopefully it will be loved by some little person. And, thankfully, little persons aren't too picky about freemotion quilting!
One of my longterm goals has been to improve my freemotion quilting. I know I need to practice, practice, practice!!! One book that has really been helpful is Pat Sloan's new book. I probably have 7 or 8 other books on machine quilting, but this one has been the best so far. In addition to the book, Pat has been offering tips on her blog since early July. I've been printing those off and keeping them alongside the machine. I love Pat's down-to-earth machine quilting--well, quilting in general. She gives such practical tips. And I especially like her no-mark quilting suggestions. I have always hated marking my quilts and have had a couple of bad experiences with some marking tools that were "guaranteed" to wash out. On Saturday my LQS had a little Christmas in July thang! Kits for ornaments and pins could be purchased. Since I was looking for some handwork to do while my husband has a thyroidectomy next week (I am always a nervous wreck in such situations), I purchased two cute stitchery kits and a yoyo wreath ornament kit. Will be so cute when done! And I couldn't resist the Thimbleberries charm packs, Mr. Halloween's Party--I bought two! I would love to have a Halloween wallhanging for the dining room. I'll look for a pattern--or maybe devise one. I have quite a bit of other H fabric so hopefully some of it will "fit in" with this. Oh, dear, more projects.
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